CarDekho to Acquire Times Internet Owned Auto Portal Zigwheels

Ratan Tata backed online automobile classifieds portal, Cardekho.com is acquiring Times Internet owned auto portal Zigwheels. The financial details of the deal is still undisclosed. CarDekho’s Co-Founder & CEO confirmed the news to ET and said that, “The Zigwheels acquisition is a strategic step for us to enhance our content to be richer and more engaging so that we help car and bike buyers. Zigwheels will work as an independent entity within the group.”

In September 2014, CarDekho had acquired IbiboGroup’s Gaadi.com, for an undisclosed amount. With this new acquisition, Jaipur based GirnarSoft, the parent company can now count CarDekho.com, BikeDekho.com, PriceDekho.com, Gaadi.com, and soon Zigwheels under its unbrella, to compete with the likes of Cartrade.com and Carwale.com, as well as with multi-category classifieds sites, such as Quikr and Olx.

Zigwheels’ traffic is estimated at 8 million monthly visits while CarDekho registers around 25 million monthly visits along with Gaadi.com. Earlier this year, CarDekho was valued at $300 million, when it raised a funding of $50 million from Hillhouse, Tybourne and Sequoia Capital. At that time, Amit Jain had also said- “We will consider acquisitions as well, and have held talks with other startups that we feel can enhance our technology platform.” In February 2015, the company had received an undisclosed amount from Ratan Tata. Further, in April, it acquired BuyingIQ.com, a shopping engine, for an undisclosed amount.

CarDekho is also planning to double its workforce by hiring 1,000 more people this year. It was founded by brothers Amit and Anurag Jain, both IIT-Delhi alumni, and the company had received its first institutional round in 2013 by Sequoia Capital.